A Ruby Red Surprise

February 11, 2008

I got an email last week from reader Tracy from Mission, Texas, home of the ruby red grapefruit, reporting that she has a tree in her yard that produces over 500 lbs of grapefruit per season!!! Seeing that I LOVE grapefruit, she generously offered to send us a few. Of course I said we’d love some!! Much to my delight, the box arrived on Saturday and they taste absolutely divine

Tracy, who holds a phD in nutrition as well as masters degrees in biochemical studies and nutrition and dietetics and food science (!!), is a school nurse at Cantu Elementary where she shares KERF with her students as an example of how to eat healthy. So I want to give a big shout-out to the Cantu Elementary School students and thank them and Tracy for the grapefruit!!!

Score! A very lazy thing I love doing with grapefruit is just peeling and seeding the fruit and then just tossing it in a blender (and maybe adding some water). It makes a great drink that is really nice looking.

I am new to your blog. I just wanted to take a moment and tell you how much I enjoy reading it everyday! Great tips and recipes…thank you so much for sharing. And that sweater is super cute where did you get it?

oh my goodness! How jealous am I??!! Those look amazing, Kath! You are one lucky girl! I got some grapefruit from the farmers market on Saturday so I’ll be enjoying some as well! Hope your day is going well!

Hey, girls, I have a quick question …
I opened a can of pumpkin for Kath’s pumpkin cake (which is soooo good, by the way) but I still have some left over. Any suggestions for a dinner-type meal with it? I thought of sweet potato pumpkin soup, but that just doesn’t sound right tonight … Any ideas? Thanks for your help!

Am I the only one who doesn’t like grapefruits?? I always hated them as a kid, and I hate the juice too….the only way I could ever eat it was DROWNED in sugar….Maybe my tastebuds have changed as an adult, so I might give them a try since everyone else seems to like them.

I haven’t experimented enough with rye bread to have a recipe I’m confident in sharing. There are some major differences in making rye bread vs. wheat bread (having to do with gelatinization of the starches) and I need more practice. Yesterday’s loaf was just an experiment because I had to feed my sourdough starter, and rather than throw away the half portion of starter you remove with each feeding, I thought I’d do a little test. I’ve been having trouble with my starter not rising, so I recently changed its feedings (sounds like a pet here) and it seems to be doing better. Once I have it under control, I promise the first bread I’ll make will be a classic rye with many details.

Ok, I know this is going to sound weird before I even say it, but I know quite a few people who put salt on thier grapefruit to improve the taste…they say it counteracts the bitterness without making it too overly sweet…I personally have developed a taste for it plain over time, but thought I might suggest the salt based on friends and family member who have tried salt and liked it

I LOVE grapefruit, and I eat it plain. BUt my best friend swears by adding a little sprinkling of salt, she’s not crazy–haha, so I trust it does the trick! Yum, I’m already looking forward to a grapefruit, tomorrow!~

I wanted to say hello to Tracy… I live in Austin (hello also to the other Austinite!) but work at an architecture firm that also has an office in McAllen. Long story short (or short story made long) we do projects in Mission, and McAllen and other Valley cities and I was just in Mission last week! We are working on a new Fine Arts building for Mission High School. Anyway- great to hear this wonderful blog has such a far reach. And go grapefruit! I had a broiled one yesterday- thanks to Kath’s tip.

Re. Grapefruit: Ewwwww! Salt on grapefruit sounds gross to me!! I’m not a big salt person though. I can see why some of you might not like it. Ruby Red is by far the best kind – the pink and white kinds are much more bitter. Go try to find a perfectly ripe RR and give it one last try! I also think broiling takes some of the bitterness out.

Re. Pumpkin: HK is right – it’s great in yogurt!! (See my dinner post for my afternoon snack But I do think it would be good stirred into a soup – like one of the Pacific flavors – butternut squash perhaps? You could also try it over pasta, but I would add some sweetener like brown sugar or maple to take the squashy part out of the pumpkin. Or even a pumpkin quesadilla or stuffed pita would be good! I’d just be sure to give the flavor a boost with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and your sweetener of choice.

I love grapefruit and eat it with cottage cheese. It may sound weird, but my mom ate it when she was pregnant with me and that’s really the only way I eat cottage cheese…everything else seems to sweet. Just an idea!

Re: salt on grapefruit. Food chemistry note (taught it as a doctoral student for a number of years)… subthreshold levels of salt decreases bitterness and enhances sweetness. The key is using subthreshold levels of salt.

Kath: The kids loved the note of thanks! You have made grapefruit cool!

Texasfoodie and others from TX: Hi to y’all from deep south TX and Mexico (just a few miles away).

Some ladies at my work put salt on cantelope and watermelon. I like watermelon plain, however, I also hate cantelope…my mom says its God’s mistake-tastes so good like its bad for you, but its good for you! I say Gross, pass me any other fruit please!(except grapefruits!)